Water HARDNESS!?? What the heck is it exactly??

moy

moy

Member
Hey fellas, quick question! It's been about a month, month & half, since i've gotten into corals. So i know there's new parameters i need to watch. So my question is about HARDNESS:
1. What is HARDNESS??
2. Is HARDNESS in the water important for corals??
3. How do you get HARDNESS into the water? How do you bring HARDNESS levels down or up? Are there buffers you can purchase to help maintain HARDNESS levels??
All help would be greatly appreciated!! :D :) ;) :cool: :p :D
 
moy

moy

Member
:mad: :eek: :mad: Please someone help me with my questions!!! :eek: :rolleyes: :mad:
I need someone's assistance with this!!! A fellow fish lover is in distress, will anyone help!!! :( :rolleyes:
 
oceanblue

oceanblue

Member
Moy,
I'll try to give a brief answer..there are two types of hardness GH(General Hardness) and KH(Carbonate Hardness). Hardness is generally the amount of different types of calcium in the water. Your salt mixture will add balanced amounts of calcium in to buffer the water normally. The main thing is calcium is used by corals and inverts physiologically in mainting the exoskeletons as well as mineral absorption(think of it as digestion). You typically need to replenish the calcium in the water, the recommended levels for a reef or coral tank is 350-450mg/l (I think that's the right measurement). There are many many products out there to help sustain these levels on a daily basis. The best method is the use of Kalkwasser(German word for calcium or Lime Water), Kalkwasser is a very strong concentration with it's natural PH being 13, and being so can't be added fast or the result will spell trouble. So, it is dripped in your system via a store bought, or homemade container that has a tube for control of drip rate and placement. The other answers work argueably as well as Kalk, but are usually added in two parts adding the two main kinds of calcium in balance, the two kinds are calcium hydroxide and calcium carbonate in aqueous form. I happen to use the Two little fishies "C-Balance" at the moment, and it seems to work well for me. I'm out of time here, but I'll let some of the sharks and experts with Kalk correct me and explain further. Hope this helps, Dave :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top